Thursday, October 23, 2008

Seeing things

A day of playing tourist in Dhaka, and a needed break to get recharged as we have been working long days and travelling long distances. The Rotary Club half of this distribution trip is complete, with 4,000 kits given to the kids --- many in rural areas where few NGOs go. Now we begin the Lions Club portion.

Two wonderful young men who have been helping us with our work took us on a tour of the city, including a visit to a very old fort that is now a huge green space with gardens and a museum.

We discovered it is also a place for young lovers to grab some time together, away from the masses of humanity in this huge city of 14 million people.

Among facts learned --- there are 740,000 rickshaws in Dhaka.

Language issues cause many minor missteps. A street vendor selling maps approached our vehicle while we were stopped in traffic --- price 300 taka ($2.00). While negotiating for 2 maps for 500, the traffic
moved on after the money had been handed over, but before the second
map had been received. So this is now known as Doug's 500-taka map. Still a bargain.

The picture is a typical pedal-powered delivery vehicle called a rickshavan. There are thousands of every description carrying everything from chickens to sewer pipe.

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